If you’re looking for something fun and educational to do with the kids Saturday, you might head to the Main Library downtown South Bend.
The annual Science Alive is free and organizers say it could spark a child’s interest to learn more about increasingly important fields.
You can think of Science Alive as a kind of sampler appetizer plate for kids. The hope is they’ll find something tasty and want more of it in the future.
As always, there are some new touches this year. The Potawatomi Zoo is making their stage show debut. At 12:15 they’ll teach kids about some reptiles and amphibians that they can then see and touch afterward.
Also new for this year will be a robotics stage show at 3:15. RoboMonkies Robotics will showcase the fun of Vex robotics with hands-on demonstrations.
The 32nd annual event has the same goal as when it started in 1992 – to get more kids interested in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math. Science Alive is much bigger today, featuring 41 exhibitors, enjoying its third year in the library’s expanded Community Learning Center.
There’s not only more space, but over the years the event has grown deeper connections with local scientific businesses and academic experts.
Marissa Gebhard is the library’s communications manager.
"They're bringing in their rockets and their chemistry, and they're getting kids excited with the hands-on demonstrations," says Marissa Gebhard, the library’s communications manager, "so that they can go back to their schools and be excited to learn about science from their teachers at school."
